Night Shift sours come to cans; watch for Wachusett's Fergal Project

Fans of Night Shift Brewing Company’s sour beers who aren’t fans of 750ml bottles should rejoice. Night Shift, of Everett, announced it is releasing all its sour beers in 16 ounce cans.

“Customer demand for tall-boy sours seem to be getting stronger every day,” said Night Shift co-founder Rob Burns. “We’ve been listening. And now we’re acting on that demand.”

Night Shift has been canning their other beers since 2014. Beginning in March, they will release their first sour can – the Ever Weisse, a mixed fermentation sour ale brewed with hibiscus, kiwis and strawberries. It will be available in four packs.

Other sour beers to be released this year will be Ricky Weisse, which is a beery version of a lime rickey brewed with raspberries and limes, and the Mainer Weisse, a beer brewed with blueberries and cinnamon. Ricky Weisse will be released in June. Maine Weisse will be released in September.

“We’re thrilled about the year of sour cans ahead,” said Burns. “We’re using photography on our packaging for the first time, really trying to showcase the fruits featured in beer. They’re exciting, complex labels for exciting, complex beers.”

The ability to package the sour beers in cans is due to the purchase of a new canning line. Prior to that, packaging sour beers was too risky on the same machine, because the lactobacillus used to brew the sour beers could potentially infect the non-sour beers.

A few weeks ago, I wrote about former Guinness Master Brewer Fergal Murray visiting the Wachusett Brewing Company in Westminster to brew a beer.

That beer, the Fergal Project, part of the new 1794 Series, is now out.

The new beer has been dubbed a “New England Stout,” and is brewed with Irish malts and the American hops that Wachusett uses to brew their Wally, a New England IPA.

“When we talked about the launch of his new collaboration series, there was no one else I wanted to work with more than Fergal,” said Wachusett President Christian McMahan. “His knowledge of the stout category is second to none. We are honored he chose Wachusett as his first U.S. craft beer partner.”

The 1794 Series is named for the barn featured on many of Wachusett’s labels. That was the year it was built.

The Fergal Project, which comes in at 4.5 percent alcohol by volume, is available in four packs of 16 ounce cans and on draft.

Finally, Craftbeer.com, run by the craft beer industry trade group the Brewers Association, announced its “Best Beer Bars” in the country list. The Armsby Abbey of Worcester was named the best in Massachusetts for the eighth year in a row.

Here is what they said: “Few beer bars have been recognized through this search as much as Armsby Abbey. We believe that speaks for itself, from the atmosphere to the beer selection that Armsby Abbey prides itself on. In a state as beer-centric as Massachusetts, our readers say Armsby Abbey continues to lead the way.”

Norman Miller is a Daily News staff writer. Email him at nmiller@wickedlocal.com or call at 508-626-3823. Check out the Beer Nut blog at blogs.wickedlocal.com/beernut. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram @RealBeerNut and on Facebook at facebook.com/NormanMillerBeerNut.